NZ Blogroll

New Zealand is a wonderful place. The scenery, the things to do, the native people. But there is much more to New Zealand than the standard things most tourists do. That’s the purpose of this blog: To talk about all of the things to do in New Zealand after you have gone to a Maori welcoming ceremony, taken a jet boat ride, and cruised Milford Sound.

This is mostly a blog about things to see and do in New Zealand beyond the most famous ones. I have, however, included a few posts on other New Zealand-related subjects from time to time. This is one of those.

In December of 2016, I wrote a post, you can see it below, entitled “New Zealand: The Lucky Country.” While the post talked about several New Zealand politicians, it was mostly about Bill English, who at that point had just become Prime Minister upon the resignation of Sir John Key. I went into a fair amount of detail on what I liked in Mr. English’s approach to politics. There is no need to repeat what I wrote then, though you may find it interesting if you have not read it before.

Australia is often called “the lucky country,”1 but I think the name could also apply to New Zealand. In saying this, I am not talking about New Zealand’s natural beauty, climate, etc., though all of them are great. Rather, I am talking about its government and its politicians.

From 1999 to 2008, Helen Clark and Michael Cullen, her Finance Minister, ran an impressive center-left Labour government. Anticipating the problem of affording superannuation payments in the 2020s and later, when the baby boomers reach retirement age, the government set up what is commonly called the “Cullen Fund.” Payments were made into the fund and invested so the money would be there to help make superannuation payments in the future.

[While this is basically about the upcoming presidential election in the United States, it does include a lot about New Zealand, so I am also posting it here, too.]

Some members of #NeverTrump are now ripping on House Speaker Paul Ryan. Even though Speaker Ryan has publicly criticized Donald Trump’s appalling complaints about the judge in the Trump University case and is working hard to develop a detailed House Republican program representing real Republican principles, Speaker Ryan has said he will vote for Mr. Trump and that puts him beyond the pale for many #NeverTrump-ers. George Will, for one, did it in his column on Monday.1

I certainly understand Mr. Will’s views on Donald Trump, and I will not be voting for Mr. Trump myself. However, that does not mean I am going to accuse Speaker Ryan of, in effect, selling his soul to the devil (whether the Faust version or “Damn Yankees”). It is easy for columnists like Mr. Will (or bloggers like me) to act morally superior to politicians like Speaker Ryan for the choices they have to make. It’s easy to say #NeverTrump when it won’t affect your life or what you are trying to do in it. But for people such as Paul Ryan, who are in the battle and see some potential to actually do something good at some point, it is not so easy. And it is not for me to criticize the difficult choices they have to make – especially because it is sometimes not so easy to know which decision today will turn out to be the best one ten or fifteen years down the road. Let me give an example. From New Zealand (of course).

February 6 is Waitangi Day in New Zealand. Waitangi Day celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi by the British and a number of Maori chiefs on February 6, 1840. The Treaty is in many ways the founding document of New Zealand. The Treaty provided for a British governor of New Zealand, recognized Maori ownership of their land, and gave the Maoris the rights of British subjects. As often happens, though, disagreements about the Treaty soon developed, in part because the British and Maori language versions of the Treaty were different. However, since this is supposed to be more of a travel blog, I will go into that more below, after the pictures.

The main point is that the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which are near Paihia and which are where the Treaty was signed, are definitely worth a visit, even for non-New Zealanders. In addition to the Treaty House, where the Treaty was drawn up, there is a carved Maori meetinghouse (opened on the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty), the world’s largest ceremonial war canoe, and more.

While Milford Sound is more famous (see the subtitle of this blog), Doubtful Sound should not be missed, either. First, though, a comment on Milford Sound. When we decided to go on an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, I wondered if we should maybe skip Milford Sound. Fortunately, we didn’t. We went to both, and it was the right decision. We were very lucky in our trip to Milford. We took the bus from Te Anau, and it rained most of the way there. The sun came out about ten minutes before we arrived at Milford Sound. Which, we discovered, was perfect. Only a couple of the waterfalls at Milford Sound are permanent. The rest are rain-fed. And we got to see them all. It was fantastic. I have dozens of pictures. Here’s just one.

When you are in Dunedin (and you should go to Dunedin), take a ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway. The Taieri Gorge Railway is part of the old Otago Central Railway. The Taieri Gorge Railway goes from the Dunedin Train Station, itself a famous tourist sight, to Pukerangi and on to Middlemarch. The trip to Pukerangi is a four-hour round trip; the trip to Middlemarch is six hours.

The Otago Central Railway was built in the late 1800s and early 1900s to open central Otago to development, especially agricultural products. Legal rules protected the railway from competition by trucks until 1961 for livestock and 1983 for general freight. After that, the railway continued in business, hauling material for the construction of the Clyde Dam. Once the dam was finished, the railway was shut down as uneconomic in 1990.

Why is a blog focusing on “a different New Zealand” writing about Queenstown and Rotorua, you might ask. I’m not going to talk about what to do in those places; that’s covered just about everywhere else. Instead, let me mention a couple of good places to stay and some great places to eat.

First, Queenstown. In terms of where to stay, let me make a suggestion. Check out the Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown.

Regular prices can be high, but sometimes they have really good deals. The Millbrook Resort was recommended to us on the basis that every place in Queenstown is expensive, but not all of them are good. We were lucky that Millbrook had specials the four days we wanted to stay there. The rates are sometimes $600 night or more, but the rates were less than half that the days we wanted to stay. While that may seem like a lot, it wasn’t that much more than other Queenstown hotels, and it was well worth it. Also, staying in Arrowtown (as opposed to Queenstown) is good for seeing things outside of Queenstown, like Central Otago (which I highly recommend).

There are all kinds of lists of the best things to do in New Zealand. You can find them in travel books and all over the Internet. What is interesting, though, is the one thing you don’t find on most of those lists is the one thing you should do: Go to a rugby match. You can see New Zealand without going to a rugby match, but I am not sure you can understand New Zealand without going to a rugby match.

Rugby is the national sport. It may be the national religion. And the All Blacks are the national team. If you want to really see a haka, see the one the All Blacks do before every match. In fact, the All Blacks haka may be a good symbol of New Zealand society today. Originally, the haka was a traditional Maori war cry, dance or challenge. But when the All Blacks do a haka, they all do it, Maori, Pakeha, Pacific Islanders, everybody. They’re all one.

Many people may think of Picton as the place you get off the ferry when you are going from Wellington to the South Island – or where you get on the ferry to Wellington if you are traveling in the opposite direction. But there is more to Picton than a ferry terminal and a rental car pickup (or drop-off).

First is the chance to sit by the water and relax. We found a great little place, the Bay Vista Waterfront Motel, on Waikawa Road. The motel itself was quite nice. The location was absolutely fantastic. Not only could you see the boats on Waikawa Bay, which has, I believe, the third largest private marina in New Zealand (or at least the South Island), but you could also see the ferries as they came into and left from the terminal. It was so beautiful we didn’t go out to dinner. We went to the local Fresh Choice food store and bought a roasted chicken, which we ate while sitting on our porch, looking out at the water.

I recently read a book by Russ Roberts1, in which he talked about the importance of trust in life, both to make life nicer2 and to make economic life easier (and better). Our experiences in renting a car in Mexico (we went to the Yucatan peninsula in January 2015) and in New Zealand (in 2014) are a good example of Mr. Roberts’ point.

When we were in New Zealand, we took the ferry from Wellington to Picton, at the top of the South Island. We were going to pick up a car at the ferry terminal in Picton. There was a long line at each rental agency (a lot of people had taken the ferry). We were renting from Avis. When we got to the front of the line, the people at the desk just gave us the keys, told us where the car was, and said to come back if there are any problems with it. When we turned the car in three weeks later at the Christchurch airport, it was much the same: Here are the keys; send me the bill; good-bye.

Of all the places we went to in New Zealand, the one I am perhaps most hesitant to write about is Christchurch – because it is changing so much. I can’t imagine all of the changes since we were there a little over a year ago. Rebuilding after the 2011 earthquake, especially in the central business district, started slowly, but I understand it is now picking up speed. Things we saw could be different now, and there will be new things to see that weren’t there when we were. With that caution, let me tell you about the things we enjoyed most in Christchurch.

For us, the best things in Christchurch were the Botanic Gardens and the Cardboard Cathedral. Neither should be missed. Walking through the Botanic Gardens was great. Even better, though, was “Punting on the Avon.” The ride was very peaceful and beautiful. Plus we had a wonderful “punter” (I think that is what you call them). He was very friendly. We talked about his favorites movies (“Blues Brothers” – being from Chicago and Joliet, we were able to tell him about the real sites in the movie) and U.S. sitcoms (he sang us the entire theme song from “WKRP in Cincinnati”). You can also, as you can see in the picture, rent kayaks, if you want to do it yourself.

Oamaru is a wonderful little town to stop in if you are traveling between Dunedin and Christchurch. But first, if you are coming from Dunedin, try to plan your trip so you can stop in Moeraki. Not for the Boulders, though they are fine, I suppose. Rather, you want to stop for lunch (or dinner, if you can spend the night) at Fleur’s Place. It rated highly in both Lonely Planet South and Rough Guide. It was great food, and it was right on the water. The fish chowder was so good we bought an extra order to take with us (we ate it next night in Christchurch).

A few comments on meals and eating in New Zealand. First, though, note these are the comments of somebody who did not camp. We mostly stayed in motels, with hotels in bigger cities. Also, we ate out for dinner a lot, though we didn’t mind finding an alternative now and then.

As I mentioned in my post on “Connecting With Everyday Life in New Zealand,” most motels in New Zealand have kitchenettes. This is very different from the United States, and it makes for a different approach to meals and eating.

Because we had a kitchenette, we made our breakfast every day (or at least every day we had a kitchenette). My wife likes eggs, so we would buy a six-pack of eggs, along with vegetables, etc., for the omelets she would make. I would buy a box of cereal and a liter of trim milk. It made for good, and fast, breakfasts, as well as a chance to catch up with what was happening in New Zealand on the morning new show.

In 2011, Lonely Planet called Wellington the “Coolest Little Capital in the World,” and it still is, as well as possibly the windiest.1 In addition to the normal things of Te Papa, Old St. Paul’s, a cable car ride to the Botanic Gardens, Cuba Street, Zealandia, etc., I thought I would mention some of the less standard things to do in Wellington, at least for a non-Kiwi tourist.

First, take a tour of the Parliament Buildings. The tour shows not only how they are trying to make the buildings earthquake-resistant, but also the growth and history of New Zealand’s democracy. Important fact: New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, doing so in 1893. The British influence is still strong. In a hallway in Parliament, there is a painting of England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688, 152 years before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.

The Parliament Buildings consist of two buildings. One is Parliament itself, which is what most of the tour covers.

One of the great things about spending almost six weeks in New Zealand is that it gives you the time to connect with everyday life. Too often, when you are traveling, you get so busy seeing sights and doing things that you don’t have time to connect with everyday life in the country you are visiting. Six weeks gave us enough time to do that in New Zealand.

To connect with ordinary Kiwis, let me suggest three things we did. First, watch TV. I realize that sounds unusual, so let me explain (in a round-about way). Most motels in New Zealand have kitchenettes. That means you can make your own breakfast, which we did. While getting ready and eating breakfast each day, we would watch “Breakfast,” the morning show on TV One.* Doing this, we got to know what was happening in New Zealand, and we began to follow the local news. It made us feel like we were more than just looking at New Zealand from the outside. We were almost living there.

The Southern Scenic Route goes from Queenstown down to the Foveaux Strait, across to Invercargill, through the Catlins, up to Balclutha, and winds up in Dunedin. It shows you a less hurried, more unexplored side of the South Island. While we drove from Queenstown to Te Anau and Manapouri, we did that to get to Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. When it came time to take the Southern Scenic Route, we really started in Manapouri, where we had left our things while we took an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound. (More on that later.)

Our first stop was the Clifden Suspension Bridge. The bridge was built in 1899 and is one of the longest bridges on the South Island. It was definitely worth a stop.

It might seem that a travel blog focusing on “a different New Zealand” is a strange place for a post on Anzac Day. But with the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day coming up on April 25, I would be remiss to not mention it.

When England declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, its empire was at war, too. Men throughout New Zealand and Australia volunteered to fight for God and Empire.1 Troops from New Zealand and Australia were first sent to the Middle East, where it was expected they would fight the Ottoman Empire. Instead, they were combined into the Australia New Zealand Army Corps, i.e., Anzac, and on April 25, 1915, they landed at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles.

The idea was Winston Churchill’s2, among others. Movement on the Western front was stalled. If the Allies could invade the Ottoman Empire and take Constantinople, thereby securing the Bosporus, they could open a supply route to Russia. Supplies to Russia could relieve pressure on the Western front. Except it didn’t work.

If Dunedin is my favorite city in New Zealand, my favorite region is probably Central Otago. Much of Central Otago can be reached on a day trip out of Queenstown or Arrowtown, but it deserves more than just a day.

The Otago Central Rail Trail follows the route of the old Otago Central Railway. Part of the railway, from Dunedin to Pukerangi and the on to Middlemarch, still operates as the Taieri Gorge Railway. It is definitely worth the ride, and I will talk about it later. Much of the rest of the railway is now the Otago Central Rail Trail.

The Rail Trail runs from Clyde to Middlemarch. While the trail is probably more for biking than walking, you can do either. You can start at either end, Clyde or Middlemarch, or pick out a section in the middle. We didn’t have as much time as we would have liked, so we walked a little bit of it out of Clyde. Still the scenery was beautiful. (If you don’t want to bike the whole 152 kilometers, there are companies that will rent you a bike, take you out a ways and let you cycle back.)

When people think of Northland, they usually think of the Bay of Islands, Waitangi, and the Ninety-Mile Beach. Or maybe the kauri trees on the west side of Northland. Let me mention some of the perhaps lesser well-known things to do.

The first is to find a place to stay on the water (generally on the east side of Northland) and enjoy the beach. We found a great place in Coopers Beach and went kayaking, as well as just walking and sitting on a very peaceful beach.

Right next to motel where we were staying was the Rangikaiti Pa. It was a pre-gun powder pa; i.e., the style used by the Maoris before they started buying guns from Europeans, which they started doing in the early 1800s. According to the DOC, it “is an example of the ‘wedding cake’ style of pa formation.” Here is a picture from the top of the pa.

There are a number of reasons why the situation of the Maoris in New Zealand is different than the Aborigines in Australia or Native Americans in the United States. I am not an expert on the subject, but at least one of the reasons may be in the history of English/European settlement in New Zealand.

In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British crown and many Maori chiefs. After the Treaty was signed, things did not go as planned. (Do they ever?) The English and Maori versions of the Treaty could be interpreted differently. Also, the Maori leaders thought they would be able to control the Pakeha. (“Pakeha” is the Maori word for people of European descent. Until recently, the Pakeha were mostly British.) But lots of British immigrants came, and they wanted land. While some Maoris were willing to sell, many were not. Disputes arose and fighting broke out.

Maoris (or at least some of them) fought the Pakeha settlers and British troops, and their Maori allies, for almost 30 years, starting in 1843, in what are now called the New Zealand Wars. (See James Belich’s 1986 classic history, The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict.) The Pakeha and the British ultimately “won,” but mostly because they overwhelmed the Maoris with numbers, as opposed to decisively defeating them on the battlefield.